[HISTORY: Adopted by the Village Board of the Village of Fox Crossing 7-13-2020 by Ord. No. 200713-1.[1] Amendments noted where applicable.]
[1]
Editor's Note: This chapter derives from § 9.10 of the former Municipal Code, amended 2-11-1985 and 11-28-2005.
A. 
License required. No person, firm, or corporation shall operate a community antenna television system in the Village of Fox Crossing for the production, interception, sale or distribution of television signals, closed circuit and otherwise, via coaxial cable to any person or to subscribers in the Village of Fox Crossing without first obtaining a license. Therefore, the license required by this chapter shall only be granted by the Village Board, providing all of the requirements of this chapter are met. Any license granted shall not be exclusive, and the Village Board, as it sees fit, may grant additional licenses if it deems it to be in the public's interest.
B. 
Public hearing required. No licenses shall be granted prior to the Village Board holding a public hearing. Notice of said hearing shall be published at least twice, 20 days in advance, in the manner and in the newspaper required by the Village for publication of legal notices. At said public hearing, applicants for a franchise having made application 48 hours prior to said hearing by filing an application for franchise shall be heard, and the Village Board shall examine other qualifications and the adequacy and feasibility of its construction arrangements.
The licensee is prohibited from erecting and maintaining any of its equipment on any structures, poles or facilities for such cable on any of the streets or roadways of the Village of Fox Crossing, except as authorized by this section. Transmission shall be made only upon the public utility facilities of the Wisconsin Telephone Company, Wisconsin Michigan Power Company, or the Village of Fox Crossing, or their successors in interest. Such licensee shall obtain the necessary permission for the installation and maintenance of such facilities from the Wisconsin Telephone Company, the Wisconsin Michigan Power Company, or the Village of Fox Crossing, or their successors in interest. The requirements of this section may be waived upon specific application to the Village Board to vary the terms of this provision to accommodate the installation of separate facilities where such facilities are necessary.
The license shall be granted for the initial term of 10 years with a right of renewal at the option of the Village Board for succeeding periods of 10 years.
Any license granted pursuant to this chapter may be terminated for any violation of this chapter at any time by resolution of the Village Board, and 90 days' notice to the licensee; provided, however, that in case of emergency, or as a measure to safeguard the health and safety or welfare of the Village or its inhabitants, the Village Board may prescribe a shorter time. If removal of the equipment is not made by the licensee in the time required, or in case of emergency, the Village Board may cause the same to be removed at the licensee's expense without notice. The licensee shall furnish a performance bond in an amount set forth in the Village Fee Schedule, reference this Code section, to ensure removal of its equipment in accordance with this section.
Licenses granted may be assigned only with the written consent of the Village Board of the Village of Fox Crossing. There shall be no assignment of the rights under the license during the first five years subsequent to the granting of a license hereunder, except by petition of the Village Board. Any assignment thereafter shall be subject to all of the terms and conditions of this chapter and shall be with the approval of the Village Board of the Village of Fox Crossing. The licensee shall be required to notify the Village Board when there is a change in the controlling interest of such licensee. If the licensee is a corporation, the licensee shall furnish the Village a list of stockholders showing the names of stockholders who hold or own more than 5% of the shares in said corporation, and that list shall be kept up-to-date at all times with a change of ownership being noticed to the Village Board within 30 days subsequent to said change.
A. 
The license tax or permit fees that the company shall pay shall be set forth in the Village Fee Schedule, reference this Code section, upon the initial grant of the franchise and upon any renewal period thereon. In addition, the company shall annually pay a percentage set forth in the Village Fee Schedule, reference this Code section (April 17, 2001, fifteen-year agreement), of its annual gross subscriber revenues to the Village during the term that the licensee holds such franchise. A certified statement showing the annual gross subscriber revenues from the Village for each fiscal year covered by the franchise shall be submitted to the Village to substantiate the sums paid pursuant to the above provision. The payment of the franchise tax shall be made on the 31st day of January for each year. Any statements made to the Village Board shall be confidential and, except with the consent of the licensee, shall be open for review only by the Village Board of the Village of Fox Crossing unless said items become material in any judicial proceeding whereupon they may be introduced in evidence by order of the court.
B. 
"Gross subscriber revenue" (defined) shall mean and include revenues derived from the supplying of regular subscriber services, including the installation fees, disconnect and reconnect fees, and fees for regular cable benefits, including the transmission of broadcast signals and access and origination channels, if any. (It does not include revenues derived from per-program or per-channel channel charges, leased channel revenues, advertising revenues, or any other income derived from the system.)
The licensee shall, within six months from the date of the grant of the license, furnish to the Village complete plans and specifications for the construction of its plant and distribution system for the approval of the Village Board. Upon approval, the licensee shall complete 25% of construction over the proposed service area within one year after receiving a certificate of authority from the Federal Communications Commission and shall complete the plant contemplated by such plans and specifications within two years after certification. The licensee shall be required as facilities are extended to cover the entire area of the Village, to permit any person to have access to its fees, if any, and monthly charges, provided that the licensee shall not be required to extend its services to any portion of the Village unless the area to be served shall be a minimum of 60 homes per linear mile and shall be contiguous to an area then being served by the licensee. The licensee shall furnish service to all applicants, whose residence or commercial establishments are contiguous to the main cable or lateral cables as set out above, within 60 days after the filing of a written application for service. Delays in the performance of the licensee's obligations under this chapter which are caused by strikes, equipment shortages, a state of war, acts of God, or other circumstances beyond the control of the licensee shall not be construed to be violations of this chapter, and a reasonable extension of time shall be granted by the Village Board upon application therefor.
A. 
Subscription not required. It is provided herein that it should not be mandatory for any citizen of the Village to subscribe to the services provided by the licensee. Subscribers shall not be required to subscribe to the licensee's service for any length of time.
B. 
Underground installation. The licensee shall place all trunk and distribution plant facilities underground where other utilities are underground, and may do so elsewhere in its system subject to prior approval of the Village Board.
C. 
Provisions of the introductory paragraph of this section regarding density requirements of homes or residences shall be interpreted by the Village Board in such a manner as to provide the most desirable service to potential and existing customers.
The licensee shall install and maintain and operate its system in accordance with good engineering practice sufficient to comply with all existing Village of Fox Crossing regulations, state law, and Federal Communications Commission regulations, and such installations of equipment shall be of a permanent nature, durable and operable in such a manner as to render efficient service.
A. 
Service office. The licensee shall establish a service and maintenance office in one of the following localities: Village of Fox Crossing, City of Appleton, City of Neenah, and City of Oshkosh. The service office shall be staffed by competent and trained employees qualified to service complaints and correct malfunctions. The licensee is required to respond to all service calls within 24 hours of said call, and shall be required to have its office available to receive service calls or complaints 24 hours per day.
B. 
Repairs and service. Whenever it is necessary to interrupt or shut off service for the purpose of making repairs, adjustments, or installations, the licensee shall do so at such time as will cause the least amount of inconvenience to its customers, and unless such interruption is unforeseen and immediately necessary, it shall give reasonable notice thereof to its customers.
C. 
Signal interference prohibited. The licensee at all times shall operate its system so as not to interfere with the existing reception and shall prevent radiation from the licensee's facilities to the antennas in the Village. In the event that the licensee's operation should interfere with existing reception or should radiation exist from the licensee's cables to any antenna in the Village, the company shall make immediate correction for such interference to remedy the same.
All transmission and distribution structures, lines and equipment erected by the licensee within the Village shall be so located as to cause minimum interference with the proper use of streets, alleys, and other public ways and places, and to cause minimum interference with the rights or reasonable convenience of property owners who adjoin the streets, alleys, or public ways and places. In the case of any disturbance of pavement, sidewalk, driveway, or other surfacing, or any private property, the licensee shall, at its own cost and expense and in any matter approved by the Village, replace and restore all paving, sidewalk, driveway, or other surface of any street, or alley, or private property disturbed, and shall restore the same to as good condition as before the said work was commenced, then shall maintain the restoration in an approved condition for a period of at least one year. The licensee shall, upon the request of any person holding a moving permit issued by the Village, temporarily raise or lower its wires or cables to permit the moving of buildings. The expense of such temporary removal, raising or lowering of wires or cables shall be paid by the person requesting the same, and the licensee shall have the authority to require such payment in advance. The licensee shall be given not less than 48 hours advanced notice to arrange for such temporary changes. The same temporary removal condition shall apply in any other situations where such temporary removal or raising or lowering of wires or cables is necessary pursuant to order of the Village of Fox Crossing or other state or municipal authorities. The protection of or moving of cables at the request of the Village will be free of cost to the Village of Fox Crossing.
The licensee shall indemnify and hold harmless the Village of Fox Crossing, and all agents, officers, and employees and representatives, from all claims, demands, causes of action, damages, costs, including attorney fees, and expense of investigations and litigation of claims and suits which shall arise from or are based on the installation, use, maintenance, presence, or removal of any equipment or apparatus of such community antenna television systems. In order to secure performance, the licensee shall obtain and file with the Village Clerk and at all times keep in force a public liability policy of insurance, insuring the licensee and the Village of Fox Crossing against any and all hazards of liability of not less than $100,000 property damage and $1,000,000 bodily injury coverage for any one accident, act, omission or occurrence.
The licensee shall comply fully with all Federal Communications Commission rules and regulations as may be presently in effect or may become effective in the future and all other federal and state rules and regulations applicable to community antenna television systems. Any and all modifications of Section 76.31 of the Federal Communications Commission rules resulting from amendment of these rules by the Commission shall be incorporated into this chapter within one year of the adoption of the modification by the Federal Communications Commission, or at the time of franchise renewal, whichever event occurs first. Compliance with all Federal Communications Commission rules or modifications shall be a condition for continuance of any franchise.
The licensee shall furnish its monthly service free of charge to all of the elementary and high schools within the school district of which the Village of Fox Crossing is a part. This provision shall be applicable only to schools which are located within the municipality, whether or not the school district serving the Village extends beyond the boundaries of the Village of Fox Crossing. The company shall connect one television set in each school free of installation or distribution service charges. The company shall connect additional television sets in the schools upon request of the Village. The installation charge for such additional sets shall be the actual cost of labor and materials. There shall be no monthly service charge for any additional sets. Education programs available under the appropriate Federal Communications Commission rules and regulations and, upon consultation with the designated school authorities, shall be made available to the schools here covered. Further, the company shall extend services to any public building within the limits of this franchise and shall connect one television set in each building free of installation or distribution service charges. Additional television sets in any public building shall be connected upon the request of the Village. The Village shall pay the actual cost of materials and labor for any additional charge for the initial television set connection, nor shall there be any monthly service charge for any additional sets.
A. 
Unless superseded by state or federal regulations, the Village of Fox Crossing retains jurisdiction to establish rates for installation charges for customer service for a period of two years from the first operations under the franchise. All such rates shall be fair, just, and reasonable. Before services are furnished to any customers, the licensee shall file with the Village Clerk a schedule of proposed rates and installation charges. No rate during the first two years of operation shall exceed the highest rate charged customers of cable services in the City of Appleton or the City of Menasha. Before any rate changes are effective, the licensee shall file with the Village Board for approval by the Village Board a schedule of the proposed change in rates and installation charges.
B. 
"Operation" under the franchise shall mean when the first service is made to customers in the Village of Fox Crossing.
C. 
Before any increased charge is made to the customer, notice by regular mail shall be given at least 60 days in advance of the proposed increase, the effective date, and the amount of increase.
In the event that any valid law, rule, or regulation of any governing authority or agency having jurisdiction, including but not limited to the Federal Communications Commission, contravenes the provisions of this chapter, then the provisions shall be superseded by any valid law, rule, or regulation to the extent that the provisions are in conflict and contrary to any such law, rule, or regulation. Each section of this chapter, and each part of each section, is hereby declared to be an independent section or part of a section and the holding of any section or part thereof to be unconstitutional, void, illegal, ineffective, or contrary to the provisions of the ordinances of the Village, state or federal regulation, or any amendments, for any reason, shall not affect any other section or part of a section of this chapter.
The licensee agrees to give to the Village of Fox Crossing the right of examination of all its records and its equipment to secure full compliance with this chapter. Such examinations shall be at reasonable time and may be conducted by the Village Board or other persons authorized by the Village Board.
Whenever by the terms of this chapter notice as required to be given by the Village to the company, it shall be given by mail or by leaving a written letter during the ordinary business hours at the principal offices of the licensee. Whenever the company is required to give notice to the Village, it shall be given by mail or by leaving a written letter at the offices of the Village during its business hours.
The right is reserved to the Village to adopt, in addition to the provisions herein contained and existing applicable ordinances, such additional regulations as it shall find necessary in the exercise of the police power, not in conflict with the rights granted herein. The Village further reserves the right to supervise all construction performed and make such inspections as it shall find necessary to ensure compliance with the governing ordinances and this chapter.
In the event of any act of bankruptcy, receivership, or assignment for the benefit of creditors of the licensee or its assignments, all rights granted under this chapter are terminated.
The licensee shall not engage in any business in the area of this franchise other than the operation of its cable television system authorized pursuant to this chapter. The licensee shall not service television sets or sell television sets in competition with any service or sales firm located within the area in which the cable television system is operating. The licensee, however, shall maintain service operations to correct faulty adjustments, correct faulty cables or leads to any subscriber's premises or building, or to correct any other defect causing interference with the transmission of its signal to the subscriber's premises or building. That service for such defects or interruptions in service shall be made promptly upon notice to the licensee by any subscriber to the service provided herein.
In the event that any portion of the Village of Fox Crossing should be legally annexed by an adjoining municipality, all rights granted to the licensee shall continue for the duration of the term of the license granted, including succeeding option renewal periods provided under this chapter. The licensee shall hold the Village harmless from any costs of removal necessitated by such annexation, and in the event removal is necessary, such removal shall be done promptly in the event the licensee cannot reach a satisfactory agreement with the new governing body. A removal of land or rights to land within the Village pursuant to annexations shall not be a cause for termination of this franchise as to portions of land annexed, or as to any other portions of land within the Village. The removal performance bond required pursuant to § 171-4 of this chapter shall also apply to ensure the removal under this section in the event the Village is required to remove the said equipment at any time at which the license is in effect or upon the termination of said license. The Village in no way shall be held liable under this contract for any required termination of services in any area of annexation where the Village shall legally be required to terminate that portion of the license area.